Suns coach Jeff Hornacek placed second in NBA Coach of the Year voting to San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

Hornacek appeared on 103 of the 124 ballots that ask for the league's top three coaches this season. Popovich was on 98 of the ballots but won by receiving 59 first-place votes to Hornacek's 37. Ballot placing is weighted as five points for first, three points for second and one point for third. Popovich finished with 380 points to Hornacek's 339.

As a rookie head coach, Hornacek led the Suns to a 48-34 record that was a 23-win improvement, the largest one-year increase in the league by one game over Charlotte's 22-game bump. The Suns tied for the 11th best record in the NBA this season with Chicago and Toronto and missed the Western Conference playoffs by one game after being predicted unanimously to finish 14th or 15th in the Western Conference.

Drawing from former coaches like his father, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Jerry Sloan, Hornacek showed an immediate acumen for the job with his tactical skills on the sideline and his on- and off-court communication with players. He instilled confidence and chemistry in a made-over roster full of players who were getting the best playing opportunities of their careers and created a system that fit their strengths.

"He brings that quality of the best a player can be," Suns guard Goran Dragic said. "He's such a good guy. He's vocal. He's always calm. He understands the game because he played that game and that makes it even easier for us because he understands us. Sometimes, some players if they're hurt or something, they say, 'OK, I'm not going to play.' But, for Jeff, even if I had one leg, I would play for him. He gives me a lot. He's not only a coach for us but he's a friend too. He talks with us a lot. He communicates with us. He's making jokes. That's what brings players and coaches closer and then you would do anything for the coach."

"He has just got a great feel, a great balance of when to get on us, when to back up, when to let us play, when to kind of tigthen up and run some offense," Suns point guard Ish Smith said of Hornacek. ""He just has a great feel. He's a player's coach. Sometimes, it's something that is hard to explain but I think, not being biased, I think he should be Coach of the Year."

Doc Rivers is the only coach to ever win Coach of the Year without making the playoffs in the award's 52-year history. Rivers was the pick in 2000 for an Orlando team that went 41-41 and missed the playoffs by one game.

Popovich led the Spurs this season to a 62-20 record, which was the league's best. San Antonio's point differential was plus-7.8 points per game and the Spurs had a 19-game winning streak, tied for the fifth longest in NBA history, without any player averaging 30 or more minutes. Popovich's teams have won at least 50 games for 15 consecutive seasons but he posted the second-best record of his career with Tim Duncan at 37 years old (38 on Friday), Manu Ginobili at 36 and Tony Parker at 31 and extended lost injury time for Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter.

This is Popovich's third Coach of the Year award and his second Red Auerbach Trophy in three years. He joins Don Nelson and Pat Riley as the award's only three-time winners.

May 28, 2013 - JoAnn Fitzsimmons, wife of the late Suns coach and executive Cotton Fitzsimmons, greets Jeff Hornacek before he is introduced as the new head coach of the Suns during a news conference at US Airways Center.
Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports

May 28 1990: Hornacek leads his team on to the court from the team's dressing room for a playoff game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Fans line both sides to cheer on their team.
Michael Meister/The Arizona Republic

April 16, 2000: The Suns' Jerry Colangelo pays tribute to Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek at America West Arena after Hornacek had anounced he would retire at the end of this season.
Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

Nov. 10, 1989: Hornacek #14 is fouled by the Kings' Wayman Tisdale (#23) as he drives to the basket past the Kings' Harold Pressley (#21) in the first quarter of a game.
David Petkiewicz/The Arizona Republic

Nov. 10, 1987: Phoenix Suns (left to right) Jay Humphries, Walter Davis and Jeff Hornacek watch a video presentation in memory of the late Phoenix Suns basketball player Nick Vanos, who died in a Detroit plane crash. The remembrance took place before the home opener game against Golden State. The 87-88 Suns wore a black patch with Vanos' #30 on it in his memory.
Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

April 17, 1998: The Phoenix Suns' Antonio McDyess (34) sets up a screen on Utah Jazz's Jeff Hornacek as the Suns' Jason Kidd heads toward the basket during the first quarter of a game in Phoenix.
The Associated Press

April 21, 1999: The Utah Jazz Jeff Hornacek (#14, right) eyes the rim while Suns center Joe Kleine and forward Clifford Robinson (#30, second from left) try to defend in the first half of a game at US Airways Center.
Paul F. Gero/The Arizona Republic

April 9, 1999: Phoenix Suns guard Rex Chapman (3) flies past Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag (00) on his way to the basket in the first quarter of a game in Salt Lake City. Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek, left, watches.
The Associated Press

Oct. 27, 1996: Wesley Person, left, of the Phoenix Suns, tries to drive past Jeff Hornacek of the Utah Jazz, in Palacio de los Deportes, in Mexico City, Mexico. The teams, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks, were playing in a two-day tournament in Mexico City before their season began.
The Associated Press

April 23, 2008: Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko practices his shooting with former Jazz player Jeff Hornacek during a practice in Salt Lake City during the Jazz first round playoff matchup with the Houston Rockets.
The Associated Press

Oct. 17, 2007: Former Suns player Jeff Hornacek (left) and Tomas Baynes of Park City, Utah, set out to play in the Scottsdale Celebrity Pro-Am at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
Michael Schennum/The Arizona Republic

Aug. 8, 2006: Third baseman and Former Phoenix Suns player Jeff Hornacek swings the bat during a game against Arena's One & Out, as the Suns softball team competes in men's slow-pitch softball in Scottsdale.
Cori Takemoto Williams/The Arizona Republic